Ten Worst Boxing Moments of 2013

Ten Worst Boxing Moments of 2013
Mark E. Ortega
December 20, 2013

Although many consider 2013 to have been a banner year for boxing, it wasn't always smooth sailing. The sport suffered from its fair share of scandal and controversy, not to mention in a few cases just some poor judgment and bad taste. Here I count down the ten worst moments the sport dealt with in 2013.

Bits & Pieces: Tarver wants Hopkins rematch

Bits & Pieces: Tarver wants Hopkins rematch
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.cm
May 5, 2013


LAS VEGAS – On the eve of the Floyd Mayweather-Robert Guerrero pay-per-view event, a Fox Sports Net-televised ballroom boxing card took place at the Cosmopolitan, which featured Antonio Orozco, Anthony Dirrell, as well as 2012 U.S. Olympians Joseph Diaz Jr., Errol Spence, and Dominic Breazeale.

While RingTV.com editor Doug Fischer handled the deadline report, Mark E. Ortega gathered news and information from notable boxing folks who were in attendance.

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From marinated to overcooked: Lopez-Gamboa, Kirkland-Angulo, & Ortiz-Berto

From marinated to overcooked? Lopez-Gamboa, Kirkland-Angulo, & Ortiz-Berto

Mark E. Ortega

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

April 18, 2011

In this midweek piece, Leave-it-in-the-ring's Mark Ortega discusses the overcooked bout between Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa that fell to shambles following Lopez' shock loss to Orlando Salido this weekend, and why promoters should put their fighters in tough more often as was the case with Andre Berto and Victor Ortiz the same night, where the loser gained just as much in defeat as he had in winning his first 27 pro fights. As was the case with Tua-Ibeabuchi in '97, no career will be derailed from the great welterweight bout between Berto-Ortiz.

The month of April has already seen its fair share of upsets in big time bouts as well as the vanquishing of quite a few future paydays for many fighters on the losing end of them.

Maidana's record improves, Morales' all-time status soars

Maidana's record improves, Morales' all-time great status soars

Mark E. Ortega

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

April 9, 2011

In what can be considered one of the more impressive performances by a fighter who is long past his best, Mexican hero Erik “El Terrible” Morales silenced all of his critics as he made it to the finish line against Argentinian heavy hitter Marcos Maidana, losing a hard fought twelve-round unanimous decision victory at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada in a bout that many will tab as a candidate for Fight of the Year.

Morales 140, Maidana 140

Morales, 140, Maidana 140

Mark E. Ortega

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

April 8, 2011

The last time Erik “El Terrible” Morales stepped foot into the MGM Grand for a professional prizefight, he scored the most illustrious win of his storied career, a clear cut twelve round unanimous decision victory over Manny Pacquiao, which serves as the last time the Filipino icon suffered defeat.

That bout took place little more than six years ago, and although Morales has slipped a peg or three since, he is obviously still a big enough draw to be headlining tonight's star studded HBO pay-per-view card from Las Vegas and has seen much of the same amount of people show up in support of him than in his heyday.

Humbled Kirkland on the rebound

Humbled Kirkland on the rebound

Mark E. Ortega

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

March 23, 2011

The last time Austin, Texas' James Kirkland [27-0, 24 KOs] found himself in the midst of a meaningful bout against an able bodied opponent, this writer was ringside.

In a headlining bout as part of HBO's Boxing After Dark in San Jose, California, James Kirkland dismantled a game Joel Julio, ultimately finishing the Colombian in six rounds. It was the kind of performance that, if Kirkland was somehow not on your radar, after that March 2009 performance he most certainly had to be.

Kirkland-Angulo: As hot as it is going to get?

Kirkland-Angulo: As hot as it is going to get?
Mark E. Ortega
Freelance
March 12, 2009


Also eight other matchups and whether they would come off better now or later

There are fights out there that quickly grasp the attention of the boxing public, sometimes a bit too early in time for it to be a realistic possibility based on where in their careers those two fighters are. That is one of the many things that make our sport intriguing, it is all in the timing. It isn’t like football or baseball, where they play basically the same set schedule with a few differences here and there. In boxing, you never can guess where you will be eight months from now; let alone two to five years from now.

With that said, in boxing, many times a fight will start building up heat and excitement even if it doesn’t make sense at that exact moment for that fight to come off. Promoters are always trying to build a fight up so much until both guys are at similar stages in their career, near their projected primes, so that it makes the most money. A lot of times, this has worked and many fights have come together that took years of build-up to produce. It seems that fights like Hagler-Hearns and Tyson-Holyfield, despite their numerous setbacks, were always meant to come together the way they did, and it served the winners in both of those fights much better based on the timing.

Kirkland takes Julio’s heart, title of biggest puncher at 154

Kirkland takes Julio’s heart, title of biggest puncher at 154
Mark E. Ortega
Freelance
March 8, 2009


In an exceptionally well-matched card on paper, Golden Boy Promotions presented three equally intriguing bouts featuring some of their hottest young stars and seemingly had a can’t miss card. Unfortunately, anything can happen in the sport of boxing, and that includes three high-profile bouts being less than expected for reasons that were uncontrollable. The HP Pavilion lured HBO into their town of San Jose, California with a mission to prove that the city is a fight fan city, and the hometown crowd was successful in that mission as 6,765 people were reported in attendance. On this night, however, quite a few instances occurred that took some of the air out of the tires that was the three televised bouts.